Air India crash: 135 victims identified, 101 bodies handed over to families
According to authorities, DNA tests are being conducted to confirm the identities of victims as several bodies were charred or severely damaged.
People carry the coffin containing the body of Akash Patni, who died after an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane crashed during take-off from an airport, in Ahmedabad, June 17, 2025. (Photo: Reuters)
Vivek Mishra works as an Assistant Editor with Eastern Eye and has over 13 years of experience in journalism. His areas of interest include politics, international affairs, current events, and sports. With a background in newsroom operations and editorial planning, he has reported and edited stories on major national and global developments.
FIVE days after the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad that killed 270 people, officials on Tuesday said that 135 victims have been identified through DNA testing, and 101 bodies have been handed over to their families.
According to authorities, DNA tests are being conducted to confirm the identities of victims as several bodies were charred or severely damaged.
“Till Tuesday morning, 135 DNA samples have been matched, and 101 bodies have already been handed over to the respective families. Of these 101 deceased, five were not on board the flight,” Ahmedabad Civil Hospital’s medical superintendent Dr Rakesh Joshi said.
He added that the 101 deceased belonged to different parts of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Bihar, Rajasthan and Diu. Joshi earlier said he hoped DNA profiling of all victims would be completed by Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning, PTI reported.
The crash occurred on June 12, shortly after the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft took off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 1.39 pm. The plane, which was bound for London, crashed into a medical college complex in Ahmedabad.
There were 242 people on board the flight. Of them, 241 died and one person survived. The crash also killed 29 people on the ground, including five MBBS students.
Air India chairman addresses staff after crash
Air India chairman N Chandrasekaran on Monday addressed employees in a town hall at the airline’s headquarters near New Delhi. The meeting, attended by 700 staff, came days after what is being described as one of the deadliest air disasters in a decade.
“I’ve seen a reasonable number of crises in my career, but this is the most heartbreaking one,” he said, a Tata Group spokesperson told Reuters.
“We need to use this incident as an act of force to build a safer airline,” Chandrasekaran told the staff.
The Tata Group owns Air India, and Chandrasekaran is also the chairman of the conglomerate.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner lost altitude shortly after takeoff and crashed into buildings, resulting in a large fire. Only one passenger survived, and around 30 people on the ground also died. The flight was heading to Gatwick Airport near London.
The Indian government and Air India are reviewing the crash, focusing on several technical aspects, including engine thrust, the position of the flaps, and why the landing gear remained open.
“We need to wait for the investigation … It’s a complex machine, so a lot of redundancies, checks and balances, certifications, which have been perfected over years and years. Yet this happens, so we will figure out why it happens after the investigation,” Chandrasekaran, 62, said.
Both the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder have been recovered, and authorities said these will be critical for the ongoing probe.
Impact on airline and Boeing
The crash has come at a time when Air India is trying to modernise its fleet after years of losses and operational issues during government ownership. Since acquiring the airline in 2022, the Tata Group has announced plans to develop it into a "world-class airline".
The crash also adds pressure on Boeing, which has been facing safety and production concerns in recent years.
On Monday, a separate Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft heading from Hong Kong to New Delhi returned to Hong Kong shortly after takeoff due to a technical issue.
Chandrasekaran said, “It’s not easy to face criticisms. We are going to get through this. We need to show resilience.”
Ongoing efforts in Ahmedabad
Meanwhile, in Ahmedabad, many families continue to wait to collect the bodies of their relatives. Medical teams are working on identifying victims using dental samples and other methods. Only 99 DNA matches had been confirmed by Sunday evening, and 64 bodies had been handed over at that point, Dr Joshi said.
Authorities are continuing the identification process as part of the larger effort to assist grieving families and determine the cause of the crash.
PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer has been more sure-footed on the world stage than at home in his first year in office, but is sensitive to the wrong-headed charge that he spends too much time abroad.
So, this will be a week when world leaders come to him, with fleeting visits from both Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and US president Donald Trump, touring his golf courses in Scotland before his formal state visit in September. The main purpose of Modi’s two-day stopover is to sign the India-UK trade deal, agreed in May, but overshadowed then by the escalation of conflict between India and Pakistan.
This is Modi’s fourth visit to the UK since taking office – with a change of Monarch and a new prime minister or three since he was last here. Beyond a trip to the Palace, this working visit may lack the razzmatazz of his earlier visits, with no public engagements on anything like the scale of his addressing a Wembley stadium full of the British Indian diaspora alongside David Cameron a decade ago.
It would seem a missed opportunity if the prime ministerial schedules do not allow them to make it to the India versus England Test match at Old Trafford in Manchester. Modi did once take Anthony Albanese, the rather Starmeresque Australian prime minister – to see Australia play India in Ahmedabad, at the Narendra Modi Stadium, no less. Keir Starmer could hardly match that. A trip to watch the cricket would be an instrumental chance to communicate the trade deal. It would exemplify the unique depth of cultural connections and people-to-people links central to today’s post-imperial relationship. And it would be a chance to find out what happens next in a brilliant sporting contest.
This series does not have what we might intuitively think is the key ingredient of a sporting classic: the best teams in the world competing at their peak. These England and India sides are teams in transition – yet their competing talents and flaws are evenly matched enough to produce an epic drama, filled with compelling swings of the pendulum. So, India head to Old Trafford for the fourth Test bemused to somehow find themselves twoone behind, having been the better team on most days, but not in the decisive moments. If India could level the series before the final Oval Test, this could have a good claim to be the most memorable series that England and India have ever played.
Yet Old Trafford has not been a happy hunting ground for India – with four defeats and five draws in the past nine Tests. Yet young Indian Shubman Gill has already given the first ever win at Edgbaston in his first season as captain, between the narrow defeats at Headingley and Lords, so is unlikely to be daunted by the shadow of history.
Yet Old Trafford was also the scene of one of the greatest ever Indian performances – fully 129 summers ago, long before India had a Test team, as the swashbuckling prince Ranjitsinhji scored 154 not out for England in the Ashes test. Ranji had been left out at Lords, regarded as a ‘mere bird of passage’ by MCC selector but the Old Trafford selectors responded to the press and public clamour for Ranji’s selection, and his swashbuckling innings becoming the stuff of Victorian cricketing legend. Ranji’s history of 1896 makes it even more remarkable that Wisden Cricket monthly was to disgrace itself a century later with an article headlined “Is it all in the blood?” by Robert Henderson, which called for ‘a rigorously racially and culturally determined selection policy’. The explicit argument was that those without ancestral ethnic connections could never feel ‘a deep, unquestioning commitment to England’ but would risk instead gaining a conscious or subconscious satisfaction in seeing England humiliated. Wisden settled legal claims from Devon Malcolm and Phil Defraitas out of court for describing them as not ‘unequivocal Englishmen’ who should be excluded on these grounds.
The Wisden Affair exemplifies that there was a strong common sense consensus that ethnic minorities could be English at least 30 years ago. England’s black footballers had clearly settled this question by the early 1990s too. In doing so, they made the black English rather more culturally familiar than the Asian English.
Cricket did more to complicate questions of national identity and sporting allegiance. Most fans saw the Tebbit test as outside the spirit of cricket – it does not apply to Australians here, or the English down under. British Asians are only likely to play for England, not India or Pakistan, but still more likely to support the Asian teams at cricket while cheering for England at football. Norman Tebbit died the week before the Lord’s Test, where Shoaib Bashir took the final Indian wicket for England. It may have been a sign from above that the argument has moved on.
Sunder Katwala is the director of thinktank British Future and the author of the book How to Be a Patriot: The must-read book on British national identity and immigration.
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Starmer and Modi shake hands during a bilateral meeting in the sidelines of the G20 summit at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Brazil, on November 18, 2024. (Photo: Getty Images)
India and UK to sign free trade agreement in London on July 24
Tariff cuts on whisky, cars and textiles part of the deal
Trade deal aims to double bilateral trade to £89 billion by 2030
Social security pact finalised; investment treaty talks ongoing
INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi embarked on a four-day visit to the United Kingdom and the Maldives on Wednesday, July 23. The visit to the UK is at the invitation of prime minister Keir Starmer, while the state visit to the Maldives is at the invitation of president Mohamed Muizzu, the India's Ministry of External Affairs said.
“Leaving for UK, a country with which our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership has achieved significant momentum in the last few years. I look forward to my talks with PM Keir Starmer and my meeting with His Majesty King Charles III,” Modi said in his departure statement on X.
The India-UK free trade agreement is set to be the key outcome of the visit to London. The deal will be formally signed on July 24 and will focus on expanding trade and defence ties.
Tariff cuts on whisky, cars, textiles
The trade agreement, concluded in May after three years of negotiations, includes tariff cuts on British whisky, cars, and selected food items. In return, Indian goods such as textiles and electric vehicles will receive duty-free access in the UK. The agreement will come into effect after ratification by the British Parliament and India’s federal cabinet, expected within a year.
"This is a significant agreement," India’s foreign secretary Vikram Misri said on Tuesday, adding that legal vetting of the deal was nearly complete. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will accompany Modi for the signing ceremony.
According to Misri, bilateral trade between India and the UK reached £40.7 billion in 2023-24. The UK has become India’s sixth-largest investor with cumulative investments nearing £26.7 billion. About 1,000 Indian companies operate in the UK, employing 100,000 people and investing nearly £14.8 billion.
Under the terms of the agreement, tariffs on Scotch whisky will drop from 150 per cent to 75 per cent immediately, and fall further to 40 per cent over the next ten years, the British government said. On cars, India will cut duties from 100 per cent to 10 per cent under a quota system that will be gradually expanded.
India to gain access for EVs under quota system
Indian manufacturers are expected to gain access to the UK market for electric and hybrid vehicles under a similar quota system, officials from the commerce ministry said.
The ministry also said that 99 per cent of Indian exports to the UK, including garments and textiles, would benefit from zero duties. In return, the UK will see reductions on 90 per cent of its tariff lines.
"The UK is an important market for Indian exporters," said Ajay Sahai, director general of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations. He said the agreement would boost sectors like textiles, footwear, marine and engineering products.
Cabinet clears FTA; Social security pact finalised
On Tuesday, sources said the Indian cabinet approved the free trade agreement, officially known as the comprehensive economic and trade agreement. The pact, which includes chapters on goods, services, innovation, government procurement and intellectual property rights, was finalised on May 6.
The trade deal is also aimed at eliminating duties on labour-intensive products such as leather, footwear and clothing. Imports of whisky and cars from Britain will become cheaper. The agreement targets doubling trade between the two countries to £89 billion by 2030.
Once signed, the agreement will need ratification from the British Parliament before it can take effect.
India and the UK have also concluded negotiations on a social security agreement called the Double Contribution Convention Agreement. It will help Indian professionals working in the UK avoid making double contributions to social security funds. Talks on a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) are still in progress.
Such agreements generally aim to remove or significantly reduce customs duties and ease norms to promote trade in services and bilateral investment.
India’s exports to the UK increased by 12.6 per cent to £10.7 billion in 2024-25, while imports rose by 2.3 per cent to £6.4 billion. Bilateral trade rose to £15.8 billion in 2023-24 from £15.1 billion in 2022-23.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft, operating flight AI-171 to London Gatwick, crashed into a medical hostel complex shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad on June 12.
AIR INDIA said on Tuesday that it had completed precautionary inspections of the fuel control switch locking mechanism on all its Boeing 787 and 737 aircraft, and no issues were found.
The inspections come amid an investigation into the Air India crash that resulted in the deaths of 241 people on board and 19 on the ground. The probe is focused on the fuel control switches of the Boeing 787 jetliner. A final report from India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is expected within a year of the incident.
The fuel control switches manage fuel flow to aircraft engines, allowing pilots to start or shut them down while on the ground, or manually intervene during an in-flight engine failure.
Air India started voluntary inspections of the switches on July 12. Following this, India’s aviation regulator directed all domestic carriers to carry out similar checks. Some foreign airlines and regulators also followed suit.
A preliminary report issued earlier this month by the AAIB said the switches had almost simultaneously flipped from ‘run’ to ‘cutoff’ shortly after takeoff, leading to loss of engine power.
The report referred to a 2018 advisory from the FAA that had urged operators of certain Boeing models, including the 787, to inspect the locking mechanism on the fuel cutoff switches to prevent unintentional movement.
Both the FAA and Boeing have issued private notifications stating that the fuel switch locks on Boeing aircraft are safe, Reuters had reported.
Reuters also reported last week, citing a source, that a cockpit recording from the Air India flight from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick suggested the captain had cut fuel to the engines.
The AAIB has said it is too early to reach any conclusions.
Air India uses Boeing 787 twin-aisle jets for long-haul flights, while its low-cost arm, Air India Express, operates Boeing 737 single-aisle aircraft.
(With inputs from agencies)
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People crowd a street as firefighting trucks remain on standby outside a school where an Air Force training jet crashed in Dhaka on July 21, 2025.
Jet crash at school in Bangladesh kills 27, including 25 children
Classes cancelled at Milestone School and College following tragedy
National day of mourning declared by interim leader Muhammad Yunus
Military investigating mechanical failure in fighter jet
FAMILIES and teachers gathered at Milestone School and College in Bangladesh on Tuesday, a day after a training fighter jet crashed into the campus, killing 27 people, including 25 children, in the country's deadliest aviation incident in decades.
The Chinese-made F-7 BJI aircraft crashed on Monday just after pupils had been let out of class. The jet struck the school building, killing students and two others.
"So far, 27 people have died. Among them, 25 are children and one is a pilot," said Sayedur Rahman from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. He was updating an earlier toll of 20.
"Seventy-eight people are being treated in different hospitals," Rahman added. He is the special assistant to the ministry's chief adviser.
The military, which is investigating the crash, said more than 170 people were injured.
School remains shut after crash
Classes were cancelled on Tuesday. The school, usually full of activity, remained quiet.
"Along with the children, the school has lost its life," said Shahadat Hossain, a teacher whose son narrowly escaped the crash.
"There are two swings in front of the affected building. During lunch breaks and after school, children play there. Even yesterday, around the time the plane crashed, students were on those swings," he told AFP.
Milestone School and College has around 7,000 students. Abul Bashar, whose sixth-grade son attends the school, said his son’s best friend was among those killed.
"He came out just two or three minutes before the accident occurred," Bashar said.
"He couldn't sleep through the night and forced me to bring him to school this morning," he added. His son stood silently next to him.
Ongoing recovery and investigation
School staff have begun collecting students' belongings, including bags, shoes and identity cards, from the crash site.
Pahn Chakma, a senior police officer, said the armed forces are still searching the area.
"They will hand over the place to the police later, and we will then collect evidence, including any human remains or belongings of students and others," said Chakma.
Air Force personnel said the jet’s remnants were removed on Monday night, but they continue to search for more evidence.
"I don't know how long it will take to return to normalcy, to relieve the children from this trauma," said teacher Hossain.
On Monday night, the school held prayers at the campus.
National mourning declared
Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus expressed "deep grief and sorrow" over the incident and declared a day of national mourning.
"The loss suffered by the Air Force, the students, parents, teachers, and staff of Milestone School and College, as well as others affected by this accident, is irreparable," Yunus said.
"This is a moment of profound pain for the nation."
The military said the pilot, flight lieutenant Towkir Islam, was on a routine training flight and "reportedly encountered a mechanical failure".
He attempted to steer the jet away from populated areas but, "despite his best efforts", the aircraft crashed into the two-storey school building, the military said on Monday.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Migrants swim to board a smugglers' boat in order to attempt crossing the English channel off the beach of Audresselles, northern France on October 25, 2024.
THE UK government on Monday launched a new sanctions regime targeting people-smuggling gangs and their enablers, which it described as the first of its kind globally.
Under the new regime, the UK will be able to freeze assets, impose travel bans, and block access to the country’s financial system for individuals and organisations involved in facilitating irregular migration. These actions can be taken without the need to rely on criminal or counterterrorism legislation.
The sanctions regime was first outlined by foreign secretary David Lammy in January. The government said it would work alongside powers included in the Border, Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, which is yet to be passed.
Prime minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government is under pressure to fulfil its promise to stop the movement of tens of thousands of people arriving in small boats across the Channel.
“For too long, criminal gangs have been lining their corrupt pockets and preying on the hopes of vulnerable people with impunity as they drive irregular migration to the UK,” foreign secretary David Lammy said in a statement.
“That’s why the UK has created the world’s first sanctions regime targeted at gangs involved in people smuggling and driving irregular migration, as well as their enablers.”
Baroness Chapman said: “People-smugglers are callous criminals who exploit vulnerable people, putting lives at risk for their own profit. They fuel a global trade that affect families across the world, from Africa, to Asia, to the Middle East.
“We’re launching world’s first dedicated sanctions regime targeting those behind these networks and their enablers. It will be an important tool in our wider efforts to tackle irregular migration.
“This is not a challenge any country can solve alone – we are working with our partners to play our part and hold these criminals to account.”
The government said the new measures would apply to individuals and entities that provide small boats, fake documents, and financial services used by smuggling networks.
Chris Philp, who leads on security and immigration for the main opposition Conservatives in parliament, said further steps were needed to address the issue.
“The truth is you don’t stop the Channel crossings by freezing a few bank accounts in Baghdad or slapping a travel ban on a dinghy dealer in Damascus,” he said. “Swathes of young men are arriving daily, in boats bought online, guided by traffickers who laugh at our laws and cash in on our weakness.”
Starmer has recently signed agreements with France and Germany aimed at reducing the number of small boat arrivals, as he looks to counter the rise of the right-wing populist Reform UK party led by Nigel Farage.